More bad news…

Well, I have more bad news to share about Grandma. Last week her throat and chin were so swollen that she was unable to have her radiation treatment as they couldn’t put the radiation mask on properly. This prompted another round of scans and a biopsy to find out if the swelling was an abscess or if it was the tumor. The biopsy came back “inconclusive” but the scans showed that there are more spots of cancer in her lungs.

My mom, aunt, and grandma met with the doctor last Friday for the results of these tests. He said that the cancer has gotten ahead of them where they were treating it with the radiation and in order to make a difference, they would have to be even more aggressive in the treatment. Again, this wouldn’t be a cure, it would just buy some time as well as (hopefully) prevent some pain due to the location of the tumors they were treating. He asked if Grandma wanted to continue the radiation at a higher level or if she was ready to say no more. My aunt asked the doctor what he thought about how much longer grandma would have if they stopped the treatment. He kind of looked at her and looked at Grandma and said that that is a question he often receives from family members. However it is also a question that the patient is not ready to hear the answer to yet. He looked at Grandma again, and asked her if she wanted to hear the answer. She said no. They made another appointment for Monday for them to let him know if she was going to continue the radiation or not.

On Monday, when they met with him, they talked a bit longer and Grandma decided that she is not going to continue the radiation. I guess it wasn’t a very long visit with the doctor and not a whole lot was said. He did say that she could be looking at a general guess of 2 to 10 months left. A lot depends on where the tumors show up, as well as her fighting spirit. Now that Grandma has made this decision, my mom and aunt are able to get hospice involved in caring for Grandma. This will help them out considerably.

Mom is still wearing the air boot thing from her surgery when I was in Idaho. I think she has about 3 weeks left to be in it. Hopefully the surgery will have done what it needed to do and she will be able to quit wearing the boot and walk normally again for the first time since early summer. My aunt took a leave of absence from teaching until after Christmas break, but the time is flying by and she’ll need to be going back in a few weeks. My dad is still looking for a new job after being laid off the beginning of November. I can’t imagine everything they’re going through over there.

So, that’s the news. Sorry to be such a downer tonight, but I know some people have been following my blog and Grandma’s fight, so I wanted to update for them. Thanks again to those who have sent me their words of encouragement and their prayers.

My next post will have some teaser pics from a session I just had on Monday. Two fun boys and their beautiful baby sister!

2 Responses to More bad news…

Oh Nikki! I am so sorry. Your family has definitely been in our thoughts. Please pass on our love and support to your family. Your grandma is such a sweetheart – it is hard to understand sometimes why such crappy things happen to such wonderful people.

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I’m here if you want to talk!